Seven Mercury Dime Doubled Dies

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Mercury dime doubled dies are rare and valuable, surviving the big silver melting pot of the 1979-80 when silver rose dramatically.

In those years, silver peaked close to $50 per troy ounce, sparking a wave of silver melting and trading.

Billionaire brothers Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt hoarded more than 100 million ounces of physical silver, controlling the worldwide market. Melting continued furiously to cash in on profits.

Then the regulators stepped in and issued new rules about silver trading, causing the market to plummet as silver dropped to $11. In 1988, the brothers were tried in federal court on conspiracy to manipulate the silver market. They filed for bankruptcy and went bust with silver.

Millions of Mercury dimes had been melted without anyone looking for doubled dies. That is why these below are widely collected and valuable. You can still find in rolls and pocket change.

  • 1919 DDO (FS-101): The earliest confirmed doubled die in the series, featuring doubling on the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST.”
  • 1931-D DDO & 1931-S DDO (FS-101): Notable doubling on “In God We Trust” and the date.
  • 1936 DDO (FS-101): Distinct doubling “visible on “In God We Trust.”
  • 1939 DDO (FS-101): Doubling on “God and “Trust.”
  • 1940-S DDO & DDR (FS-901): Doubling on the date, “Liberty” and reverse lettering.
  • 1941-D DDO & DDR (FS-101): Doubling on the date, “In God We Trust” and reverse lettering.

This chart shows values:

Here they are with illustrations so you can identify the markers.

1919 10C DDO, FS-101

Look for doubling on “In God We Trust.” This is a tremendously valuable and easy to identify variety.

1931-D DDO FS-101

Look for doubling on “In God We Trust.”

1931-S DDO FS-101

Look for doubling on the date.

1936 DDO FS-101

Look for doubling on “In God We Trust.”

1939 10C FS-101 DDO

Look for faint doubling on “God” and “Trust.”

1940-S DDO & DDR (FS-901)

Look for faint doubling on date and “Liberty” and lettering on reverse.

1941-D 10C DDO & DDR, FS-101

Look for faint doubling on “In God We Trust” and the date on the obverse and lettering on the reverse.

You can also find more Mercury dime varieties on Proxiblog’s error and variety directory, including 1942/1, 1942/1-D, 1945 10C FS-101 DDO and 1945-S Micro S.

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Crossing Over Coins

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There are many reasons to submit coins for crossover service: You might have coins in lesser-tier holders. You might want to change companies for set registries. Or perhaps your holdered coin is damaged or cracked, giving you a reason to try another company. Maybe you have a coveted green PCGS first generation holder and now want to try for a higher grade at NGC.

We will be addressing those questions and discussing here the two major holdering companies, PCGS and NGC. If you are interested in ANACS crossover service, click here for more information. CAC? Click here.

Crossovers require that you have a coin in a holder with some sort of certification and grade. Before giving the details for PCGS/NGC services, refresh yourself with lower-tier companies. This article describes second, third and bottom-tier slabbing companies.

PCGS has a nifty visual explaining how to cross over any coin in a certified holder.

Coins must be pre-graded by that other company, completely sealed. The form to fill out your crossover is on the dark blue “Crossover Now” tab. But before you submit, know what you will need to do.

These are you options:

  • You can request that your coin be the same grade as on the label.
  • Or you can request any numerical grade on the Sheldon 1-70 scale.
  • If your coin has a flaw, such as cleaning, you must decide whether you want a PCGS Details label spelling out the problem.
  • Finally, you can request a specific grade higher or lower than what is on the label.

If PCGS holders your coin, it will crack it out of your slab. If it doesn’t meet the company’s standards, you will get it back with your original holder.

NGC only considers coins graded by PCGS for its crossover service. You will be asked to state your minimum grade. If NGC agrees, it will automatically remove the coin from the PCGS holder. If the coin fails to meet NGC standards, it will be returned to the submitter in its original PCGS holder. The full NGC grading fee will apply.

What if you have coin from another service and still want to cross over to NGC? Your coin is not eligible for crossover. However, NGC states that it can remove coins from these holders when submissions are accompanied by a coin removal consent form, which must accompany the submission form.

Those forms are on the NGC site.

Of course, you do not have to submit your holdered coins for crossover service. You can crack them out of the old holder and just submit your coins as raw. Experienced hobbyists know how to crack open a holder. Proxiblog will not explain how because injuries are possible from the shards of plastic. Some can literally burst and injure your eyes.

If you don’t know how to do, please do not try.

Finally, a word about old green PCGS holders, which you can submit to NGC for a new grade and label. The myth about those green holders is that they were undergraded in the late 1980s. Many were, and these were long since crossed over or submitted for a regrade.

The green holder grades are inconsistent. Some were undergraded. Some were overgraded. And some had flaws that current graders would catch.

Here are two green-holdered PCGS coins that were sent to NGC.

As you can see, the DMPL designation was lost on both in the transfer. One point higher for the 1879. I lost hundreds of dollars.

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1935 DDO Cent

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Officially known as 1935 Doubled Die Obverse (DDO) FS-101 variety, this coin has significant doubling, especially on the date, and is sought after by collectors.

You also can see doubling on the letters of “IN GOD WE TRUST” as well as the left portion of the motto LIBERTY.

If you look closely, you can see a doubled eyelid on the portrait.

This is the type of doubling that can be strong, if early in the manufacturing process, or weaker as the working die deteriorates.

Also, in those late-stage examples, the doubling can look flat. So many people attribute those to machine doubling. Example:

As for value, PCGS CoinFacts factors the color of the coin (Brown, Red-Brown, or Red) and its grade.

Well-circulated examples can be found on eBay for under $50. High grade red examples authenticated by PCGS sell for hundreds and even thousands.

This coin sold at auction for $3055.

If buying a raw example from eBay or online auctions, be sure to distinguish doubled die from die deterioration, as in this case:

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Standing Liberty Varieties

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The first two years of the Standing Liberty Quarter resulted in seven varieties: 1916 key date and 1917-P/D/S Types I and II. This article defines markers and designs so you can distinguish differences among these coins.

The 1916 Quarter with a mintage of a mere 52,000 only used one obverse and one reverse die. So these are easy to distinguish from the many replicas and counterfeits out there.

Every coin should have the same placement and design of its devices.

Soon after minting this beautiful quarter, the US Mint realized that the date was positioned on a raised pedestal. That meant it could wear away completely with years in circulation.

You can identify the key date by these major markers:

  • The Gown: Drapery of the dress clings to Lady Liberty’s right foot down to the pedestal. On a 1917 quarter, the gown drapery is away from the foot and curled.
  • The Shield and Border: The dots framing the coin’s outer rim resemble diamonds on the 1916, rather than the dashes on the 1917.
  • No Mint Mark: The entire mintage of the 1916 was struck at the Philly mint.
  • Type I Reverse: The 1916 quarter uses the Type 1 Reverse. There are no stars underneath the eagle. There are 7 stars on the left and 6 on the right. Type II has three stars under the eagle.
  • Right Breast Exposed: This differs from other reverses with Lady Liberty in chainmail.

Let’s illustrate that with a 1917 Type II design.

One other marker is important in Type II designs, and that is placement of the mintmark. Here is a 1917-D as example:

This brings us to why Type II was designed. Numismatists debate why Lady Liberty’s exposed breast was covered with chainmail armor in Type II designs. Some thought the exposed breast was lewd. The coin was designed by Hermon Atkins MacNeil. It drew some criticism in the media. But also World War I also might have inspired the armor. What happens, though, is that you can tell the difference.

This brings us to Type I and II of 1917 P/D/S/ designs.

Mintages were roughly equal with Type I and II P/D/S quarters. Type II mintages were greater than Type I in 1917:

As such, values are marginally higher in Type I examples, especially since these are coveted because of the Type I design. Here are complete values compliments PCGS CoinFacts.

It is especially important to note the design differences because Chinese has flooded the market with fakes. Here’s an example, a purported 1916 with a Type II reverse:

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Presidential Dollar Varieties

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With the 2026 Semiquincentennial President Donald J. Trump $1 Coin, people are having a renewed interest in presidential dollars. Trump was not part of the series. Launched in 2007, the series requires a president to have been deceased for at least two years to appear on a coin. Trump got around this requirement as his is a commemorative coin.

A hallmark of the presidential series is edge lettering.

Depending on the year the coin was minted, these elements appear on the edge: year of minting, mintmark and “E Pluribus Unum.”

In 2007 and 2008, presidential dollars also included “In God We Trust.”

That brings us to one of the major varieties.

Godless Dollar

“In God We Trust” was moved to the obverse of these dollars in 2009 after a backlash occurred when edge letting was missing on the 2007 George Washington dollar. People started calling this variety “Godless dollars.”

The error happened when the machine that strikes the edge lettering somehow malfunctioned, leaving the edge blank. That started the furor over US coins lacking any mention of a supreme being.

Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) responded to the backlash by introducing an amendment to a federal appropriations bill. The amendment was part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, ordering the U.S. Mint to move “In God We Trust” to either the obverse or reverse of all future Presidential dollars. The law took effect in 2009.

An average uncirculated 2007–2008 Godless Dollar is typically worth $40 to $100, while heavily circulated examples sell for around $15 to $30.

Faceless Dollar

Also in 2007-2008 some coins on blank planchets escaped the Mint. These had edge lettering but no obverse of reverse designs.

Lettered Blank Planchets

This occurred because these dollars had a two-step minting process. Blanks were fed into the coining press to stamp the obverse and reverse designs. The second step involved edge lettering.

The “lettered blank” error, popularly known as the “Faceless Dollar,” happened when blank planchets accidentally bypassed the main coining press, going directly to the edge machine.

The value of Faceless dollars typically ranges between $40 and $500, depending on authentication and condition.

Overlapped/Inverted Dollars

One final variety happened in 2007 involving the John Adams dollar. These coins were fed into the edge coining machine twice. This resulted in two varieties. Overlapped errors feature doubled edge lettering running in the same direction and inverted errors running in opposite directions and upside down.

These varieties typically retail between $50 to $300, depending on condition.

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Odds of Finding the next 1982-D Small Date Bronze Cent!

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According to AI, there is good and bad news about finding the third 1982-D Small Date bronze cent–perhaps the most sought after coin due to social media hype about its lottery-prize-like value.

As you read this, remember that AI is not an expert numismatist. Maybe those folks would have used different metrics. But I am an AI authority as one of the top technology professors with 48 years at top research institutions. So I expect those fellow hobbyists will be commenting and demurring and otherwise questioning these results.

Let’s have some fun.

Only two of these transitional varieties have been found since it was theorized that a copper planchet with a small date might have left the Denver Mint. Here they are, authenticated.

Some more facts: There are seven common varieties of 1982 cents: The copper ones should weigh 3.1 grams; the zinc ones, 2.5 grams. The copper ones are Large Date, Philadelphia; Small Date, Philadelphia; and Large Date, Denver. The zinc ones are Philadelphia, Large Date; Philadelphia, Small Date; Denver, Large Date; and Denver, Small Date.

The coveted transitional variety weighing 3.1 grams has these markers:

AI factored these odds: a hobbyist looking for the third example every day in a dollar’s worth of Lincoln cent pocket change over 40 years as roughly 1 in 300,000,000, or a probability of 0.0000000033.

Let’s illustrate those odds. Imagine one 1982-D Small Date 3.1 grams is mixed into 300,000,000 total cents. Let’s stack those coins one atop the other. They would reach 283 miles high, surpassing the International Space Station. Blindfolded, you pick exactly one coin from that stack anywhere up the cosmic ladder.

What? You don’t like that analogy?

How about this: You are 20,000 times more likely to be hit by lighting than finding the third example.

Here’s the AI screenshot:

But there is good news, too. AI factors that odds of another example (as many as 15-50 might exist!) being circulated in pocket change are nearly 100% probability!

Here’s the screenshot:

It was gratifying to know that AI cited Proxiblog about coins coming from two working dies. You can read that article by clicking here.

AI also included these factors:

  • The discovery coin was found in 2016.
  • The second was found in 2019.
  • This yields an empirical discovery rate of roughly 0.05 coins per year since the hunt began. This low yield confirms that while more coins exist, the vast majority of the 6.01 billion Denver cents have either been melted down, lost in landfills, or remain sitting unexamined in hoarders’ casual coin jars.

Summary of Your Search Odds

MetricStatistical Value
Odds a 3rd coin exists~100% (Virtually guaranteed)
Estimated total supply remaining15 to 50 coins
Odds per individual unsearched 1982-D cent1 in 300,000,000

Before you start celebrating and searching your grandparents’ coin jars, don’t count on winning the numismatic lottery. You would have better odds winning the Powerball jackpot (again hypothetically) if you bought a ticket every day for 40 years,

AI puts those odds as 1 in 20,000.

Remember the odds of the third 1982-D Small Date bronze coin? That’s 1 in 300,000,000!

Here is its breakdown of the math:

  • Single Ticket Odds: The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot with a single $2 ticket are 1 in 292,201,338.
  • Total Tickets Bought: Buying one ticket every day for 40 years (including leap years) equals 14,610 tickets.
  • Cumulative Probability: Each ticket is an independent event. Your cumulative chance of hitting the jackpot at least once over those 14,610 tries is roughly \(0.005\%\) (or about 1 in 20,000).

Have you made the correlation yet?

Go to the corner gas station. Buy a Powerball ticket. Your odds of winning the lottery jackpot with that single ticket is roughly the same as finding the third 1982-D Small Date bronze cent after 40 years of searching for the unicorn!

If you are intent on searching for those theorized 15-50 examples of the 1982-D Small Date bronze cent, keep doing it. Miracles happen.

Your own existence is 1 in 300,000,000!

AI states: “Yes, events with odds of 1 in 300,000,000 happen around us all the time. When dealing with massive populations or billions of trials, things that are nearly impossible for an individual become statistical guarantees on a larger scale.”

Let’s start with your own existence.

AI states, “Every person alive is the result of a 1-in-300-million event. During human conception, a typical fertile ejaculation releases between 100 million and 300 million sperm cells. The fact that one highly specific sperm successfully fertilized a specific egg to create your exact DNA blueprint means that your existence is equal to finding the third 1982-D Small Date bronze cent!”

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1946-S/D Cent

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The 1946-S/D variety is highly collectible because it is the only S-over-D overmintmark in the entire Lincoln Cent series.

You will need magnification to see this variety. A loupe should do it, but you can also use a coin microscope. Here’s how it looks without magnification:

In 1946, mintmarks were hand-punched into coin dies. A mint employee punched a “D” into a working die and then realized that it should have been an “S”–a perfect example of how these errors happen. He did his best to correct human error.

To identify the 1946-S/D variety, use that magnification. Look for the curve of the “S” underneath the “D” in the upper inside loop of the “S.”

Study the crossbar of the “D” appearing through the center cavity of the “S.”

The value of a 1946-S/D cent depends on condition, eye appeal and appearance. There are three designations for cents: Brown, Red-Brown, or Red.

Color DesignationPercentage of Original Mint-Red ColorDescription
Red (RD)95% or moreRetains almost all of its original brilliant mint bloom, allowing for only very slight mellowing.
Red-Brown (RB)Between 5% and 95%A mix of original red luster and brown toning from air exposure.
Brown (BN)Less than 5%The original red color has completely or nearly completely turned into a brown patina.

As for value, from Fine to Very Fine, you are looking at a retail value of $20 to $25. In mint state red, the coin will sell for hundreds if holdered by PCGS or NGC. There have been examples in s MS66 Red for thousands of dollars.

If you are interested in varieties, be sure to check out Proxiblog’s directory, which includes articles, illustrations and markers for popular coins.

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Markers for 1916-D Dime

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The 1916-D Mercury Dime is the key date of the Mercury series with a mintage of 264,000 coins. In 1916, the Philadelphia Mint made 22,180,080 coins and the San Francisco Mint, 10,450,000. Those two other mintages are important because scammers began added a mintmark to Philadelphia coins that year. Many also altered 1916-S dimes to make that mintmark look like a D.

Fortunately, we know much about the Denver mintmark. For starters, the Mint used the same punch tool for the 1916-D as it did for the coveted 1914-D Cent.

Look closely: The outer shape of the D is squared off rather than rounded. And the cavity inside the D has a vague triangular shape rather than oval.

Four reverse dies were used on the 1916-D Dime. If your coin deviates from these positions, it is fake.

Jack D. Young has a great Proxiblog article on fake 1916-Ds offered on eBay. He made this graphic below, which we use here. Take a photo of your 1916-D coin or a screenshot if you are considering purchasing one and then compare.

Two of the four genuine reverse dies feature a repunched mint mark (Dies 2 and 3 above).

Here is the example used earlier but now identified.

Genuine 1916-D Dimes often have tiny die scratches or die cracks near the date on the obverse.

It is important to know markers of rarities in coin collecting. Otherwise you may end up with a counterfeit or replica if not holdered by a major company like PCGS or NGC. Be sure to check out our rarity tab for markers of our most desirable coins.

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You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.

Markers for 1877 Indian Cent

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One of the most counterfeited coins is the key date 1877 Indian Cent. It has a low mintage of 852,500. Genuine examples cost hundreds and thousands of dollars. A Good-4 example retails for $650. Extra fine ones go for $3,000 and MS63 Brown, $7,000.

Those values alone make it necessary to know markers so you do not end up with a fake, altered or replica coin.

On all genuine circulation strikes, a single reverse working die was used. So these markers are vital and uniform.

The “N” in ONE slowly grows weaker and shallow as it proceeds to the bottom right corner.

The top left corner of the “N” in CENT also is weakly struck and shallow when you compare it to other letters.

If these “N”s are sharply struck on the reverse, you’re looking at a counterfeit coin.

There are also obverse markers, beginning with the so-called “Slanted 77” in the date. Draw an imaginary horizontal line across the date, and the second “7” should be slightly lower than the first.

If the “7”s are parallel and equal in orientation, you have a fake coin.

You also should check the second “7” for evidence of tooling, changing the last digit of the less valuable 1871, 1874 or 1879 so it appears like a “7.”

You can also do the balance test to see if your coin is a counterfeit. Genuine Indian Head cents have beleved edges and as such cannot stand balanced on its edge. Chinese fakes have flat squared edges. You can balance these.

Also many examples of contemporary counterfeits have a mushy or weakly struck “United States of America.” On genuine coins, this should be legible and crisp. In the image below, the left example is the counterfeit.

Keep in mind that Etsy and Temu sell replicas. Example:

These replicas have many of the same markers as authentic coins and often appear on eBay as authentic.

As a rule, be especially wary of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on raw 1877 cents if you do not know the markers or have doubts about them. Best to wait for your treasured key date graded by a top holdering company and sold on a legitimate site or shop.

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Struck Counterfeit 1875S C-4 Trade Dollar

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By Jack Riley

A recent 1875S Trade Dollar was shared by fellow collector Mike Printy, prompting a discussion about whether the coin was genuine or counterfeit. The coin (below) does attribute as a C-4 die marriage. Many well versed collectors note the chopmarks do not appear genuine and we’re likely done with a modern punch.

The photo courtesy of GreatCollections below shows a genuine 1875S C-4 counterstamped Trade Dollar.

Worth mentioning is that the coin in question was housed in a PCGS AU details holder but was cracked out by a previous owner.

NGC has done tremendous work on sharing information on newly discovered counterfeits. This article cited below was written in 2011, about the time the coin in question surfaced. Photos below Courtesy of NGC.

Diving into this article and coin tells the tale. Numerous repeating circulation marks are shared between the two coins. The obverse notes two minor depressions in the date along with four depression marks in the field around the first left star (highlighted in red). What isn’t mentioned in the NGC article is the horizontal scratch through the 8 and indent in the field between the 7 and 8.

The reverse of this coin may be more telling than the obverse! A scratch through “T” in “UNITED”, depression below “E” and a scratch in the field are very clear. One minor depression mark below S1, a couple below the motto, and a long horizontal scratch left of the mintmark.

I did take this to a local area facility to have it sigma tested, and it passes for 90% silver. What isn’t captured well in photos is this coin lacks luster and has an overall dull appearance across the entire surface.

In conclusion, this coin is a highly deceptive counterfeit that mimics a genuine die pairing. This likely stems from the same counterfeiters as the 1875CC C-17 counterfeits that I have previously talked about. One could assume if this had not been chopmarked in the manor that it was that it may have prolonged its time as a “genuine coin.”

If you are interested in learning about counterfeit coins, go to this tab on Proxiblog. Collectively, Jack Riley, Jack D. Young and Michael Bugeja have published some 21 articles about counterfeits.

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You can find more information about errors and varieties as well as buying and bidding on coins in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider purchasing the work for yourself or a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist website. Thank you.